QUESTION 1
a) What is distributed systems, diagram
Distributed Systems, also known as distributed computing, is a system with multiple components
located on different machines that communicate and coordinate actions in order to appear as a
single coherent system to the end-user.
Diagram
b) Advantages and disadvantages of distributed systems.
Advantages
Microprocessors offers better performance.
Allow many users to share expensive peripherals.
Total computing power is more compared to centralized systems
It is Reliable, when one machine goes down it does not affect the others connected in the
system
Computing power can be added in small increments
Users can access data from a common database, facilitating data sharing.
Workload can be spread to other machines effectively making the system flexible.
, Disadvantages
Security can be compromised since there are many access points available into the
network
Implementing a distributed system can be more costly.
Network can overload making some resources unavailable.
Little software exists at present for distributed systems.
C) Motivation of Distributed systems
Sharing resources. Example of a printer.
Personalized environments; including devices specific according to the task of
completion.
Scalability: able to grow depending on the resource demands
Performance and cost; When in need of more computing power as well as on a budget.
Location independence: the different devices can be connected to the network regardless
of their actual location. i.e. Bank Branches
d) Design Characteristics
Transparency; abstracts unnecessary details from the user. Location transparency,
Fault tolerance: appropriately handles errors that occur
Concurrency: access and communication synchronized
Scalability; flexible to grow
Resource sharing: resources can be shared across the network
e) Importance of resource sharing. What ensures the process?
Resource sharing is important in a distributed system.
Resources provided can be made available to the other machines in the system and can be
accessed simultaneously by the devices in the network making this cost effective.
Resource manager acts as the middleware. It ensures the process by providing an interface
through which resources can be accessed by the different clients.
f) Example of Transparency
a) What is distributed systems, diagram
Distributed Systems, also known as distributed computing, is a system with multiple components
located on different machines that communicate and coordinate actions in order to appear as a
single coherent system to the end-user.
Diagram
b) Advantages and disadvantages of distributed systems.
Advantages
Microprocessors offers better performance.
Allow many users to share expensive peripherals.
Total computing power is more compared to centralized systems
It is Reliable, when one machine goes down it does not affect the others connected in the
system
Computing power can be added in small increments
Users can access data from a common database, facilitating data sharing.
Workload can be spread to other machines effectively making the system flexible.
, Disadvantages
Security can be compromised since there are many access points available into the
network
Implementing a distributed system can be more costly.
Network can overload making some resources unavailable.
Little software exists at present for distributed systems.
C) Motivation of Distributed systems
Sharing resources. Example of a printer.
Personalized environments; including devices specific according to the task of
completion.
Scalability: able to grow depending on the resource demands
Performance and cost; When in need of more computing power as well as on a budget.
Location independence: the different devices can be connected to the network regardless
of their actual location. i.e. Bank Branches
d) Design Characteristics
Transparency; abstracts unnecessary details from the user. Location transparency,
Fault tolerance: appropriately handles errors that occur
Concurrency: access and communication synchronized
Scalability; flexible to grow
Resource sharing: resources can be shared across the network
e) Importance of resource sharing. What ensures the process?
Resource sharing is important in a distributed system.
Resources provided can be made available to the other machines in the system and can be
accessed simultaneously by the devices in the network making this cost effective.
Resource manager acts as the middleware. It ensures the process by providing an interface
through which resources can be accessed by the different clients.
f) Example of Transparency
